The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has adopted a resolution calling for a halt to wireless smart meters.
This represents the first national physician’s group to look in-depth at wireless health risks; and to advise the public and decision-makers about preventative public health actions that are necessary.
http://aaemonline.org/images/CaliforniaPublicUtilitiesCommission.pdf
REX Jory shares an alarming tale of bureaucracy invading the sanctity of the home.
THIS is the extraordinary story of bureaucratic arrogance, bungling and incompetence. It is a frightening example of how the twin imperatives of time and money can corrupt to override sound judgment and trample on individual dignity and community rights.
It is also an example of the inability of authority, collectively or individually, to respond satisfactorily to rectify a blatant and deliberate act of lawlessness and public disregard.
That it occurred in an outer suburb of Melbourne is of no consequence. It could happen anywhere to anyone. I know the victim and can vouch for its authenticity.
For the protection of so many people, and possibly to ensure due process if there is ongoing action, I will simply refer to her as Jennifer.
The Victorian Government is installing digital electricity meter boxes in all homes and small businesses. These meters send quarterly readings direct to the electricity providers computer, eliminating the need for meter readers. The technology will eventually be adopted in South Australia.
Jennifer, who is seven months pregnant, recently received a letter which said her new meter would be installed on February 2 between 8.30am and 2.30pm. She was advised to make the house as cool as possible, turn off all refrigerators and freezers and any household computers on that day.
On January 30, three days before the contractor was due to install the new meter, Jennifer locked her wooden front door, popped her four-year-old daughter in the car seat and drove to the local shops.
She returned 2 1/2 hours later to find a blue folder on her front door containing a note: “Sorry we missed you. A new electronic smart meter has been installed on your premises.” There were details of the contractor, the installing technician, licence number, meter number and the date.
The old meter was inside so Jennifer assumed the new meter had been repositioned somewhere in the yard.
But when she looked the new meter had been installed inside. Someone had come into her house without authority while she out. A clear case of break and enter, of being unlawfully on the premises. Never mind the fridge, never mind the computer.
Jennifer rang the police who said that unless someone had been assaulted or something had been stolen there was nothing they could do. Jennifer said the contractor could have walked around the house assessing the value of jewellery, clothing, furniture and appliances. She suggested the police take the details of the incident and the contractors name in case there is a subsequent break-in.
They werent interested.
She rang the contractor who was concerned. The technician who installed the meter came to the house with a “team leader”.
The technician apologised but said he was able to force the lock on a side door with screw driver to gain entry. “It isnt a very good deadlock youve got there,” he said.
Jennifer said: “You actually broke in. You dont appreciate how I feel. I am horrified someone would do that.” They apologised and left.
She rang the Electricity Ombudsman who said she had a “pretty good case” and could expect a call from someone in higher authority from the contracting company.
At the time of writing she had heard nothing.”There are so many what-ifs,” Jennifer says. “What if I had left an elder relative or an older child at home alone? Im seven months pregnant. What if I had come home while the man was inside? What if we had an alarm system?”
Jennifer does not necessarily want the installing technician to lose his job. But she is rightly horrified that an electrical contractor believes he has the right to break into someones locked house to install a meter so that he can reach his daily quota.
It is contemptuous behaviour in a society which now puts a higher value on time and money than individual privacy, decency and safety.
And nobody gives a damn.
via Rex Jory: Privacy trampled yet no one cares | Adelaide Now.
Smart Meters now voluntary – NOT Mandatory in the US and UK.
The UK Government had promised that every household would have a smart meter by 2019 in a £12 billion programme to stop gas and electricity bills being estimated.
Officials are devising plans to allow people to reject the smart meters, which communicate remotely from households to energy companies.
The move is a victory for campaign groups and backbench MPs, who raised concerns with ministers that the devices emit electromagnetic radiation 24 hours a day and cannot be turned off.
Privacy campaigners were worried that half-hourly data on energy usage collected by smart meters could give clues about people’s way of life, such as when someone is on holiday, at work or asleep. Sources in the Department for Energy and Climate Change said the proposal was shelved to avoid the programme getting “bogged down” in lengthy legal disputes.
There has been a public outcry recently about the potential health effects of smart meters in the US and Canada.
About 400,000 have been installed in British homes. Most of the devices emit similar radiation to mobile phones, microwaves and wireless internet.Campaigners are worried about the build-up of such devices in the home.
Some people claim to be sensitive to electromagnetic fields, saying it gives them symptoms such as nausea, fatigue and headaches.
In America, utility companies have been hit with multi-million dollar class action lawsuits from people who have had the devices installed in their homes.Regulators say smart meters are safe. But protesters point to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine’s opposition to the devices.
Bill Esterson, MP for Sefton Central, is now urging the Government to say whether smart meters will come with health warnings.
Charles Hendry, the energy minister, said: “We believe people will benefit from having smart meters. But we will not make them obligatory.”
PG&E Welcomes CPUC Decision On Analog Alternative To SmartMeter™. Residential electric and gas customers who have concerns about wireless technology can now choose either a new SmartMeter™ or a traditional analog meter, following the final decision today by the California Public Utilities Commission CPUC.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company PG&E supports the CPUCs decision and will respond quickly to customers who opt-out of the utilitys SmartMeter™ program.”We know personal choice is important to our customers when it comes to the meters on their homes,” said Helen Burt, PG&Es Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer. “This final decision in support of analog meters is a positive step forward for those who have concerns over wireless technology.
We understand some customers have been waiting for this decision, and we are actively reaching out to those who have expressed their desire for a SmartMeter™ alternative.” PG&E is installing digital, wireless SmartMeters™ throughout its service area in Northern and Central California as part of a statewide effort to help customers save on their bills by offering them more control over their energy usage, improve reliability and customer service, and conserve natural resources to help the environment. As part of a global effort to modernize the energy grid and transform it into a digital network that will deliver more reliable power to homes and businesses, similar metering programs are now underway at utilities throughout the country and around the world.
To date, PG&E has installed nearly nine million gas and electric SmartMeters™, on its way to about 10 million meters in 2012. Independent studies repeatedly have affirmed the safety and accuracy of SmartMeters™. However, in response to comments from some customers, PG&E in March 2011 proposed offering them a choice to turn off the radios in their SmartMeters™, and then provided customers with the option to delay the installation of new SmartMeters™ pending the CPUCs final decision.
In December 2011, PG&E asked the CPUC to approve analog meters as another alternative to receiving a SmartMeter™, which was the central element of the CPUCs decision today. Burt added, “The vast majority of our customers are already seeing the many benefits of SmartMeters™. By choosing to stay with our program, our customers will continue having control by seeing where they can save energy throughout the course of the day and making simple but effective changes around the home to save money.”
PG&E customers who want to opt-out of the SmartMeter™ program can submit their request online at http://www.pge.com/smartmeteroptout or call 1-866-743-0263. PG&E plans to remove the gas and electric SmartMeters™ from the homes of those opt-out customers who already have SmartMeters™; those customers who still have analog meters will be able to keep them.
The CPUCs final decision requires customers who opt-out of the program to pay a $75 initial setup charge and a $10 monthly charge. This will cover the costs of manual meter-reading and associated operational and billing issues. Income-qualified customers will pay a $10 initial setup charge and $5 a month.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation NYSE:PCG, is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nations cleanest energy to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/
via PG&E Welcomes CPUC Decision On Analog Alternative To SmartMeter™.
The Victorian Government is standing behind the roll out of electricity smart meters despite reports of a growing number of house fires. Watch the video via this link Controversy continues over smart meters – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
Safety concerns: ABC reporter Hamish Fitzsimmons inspects his fuse box, where the fire began. Picture: Chris Scott Herald Sun
AN electrician has been charged after a woman suffered an electric shock from her newly installed smart meter.
Energy Safe Victoria charged electrician Nileshkumar Patel, of Ormond, with installing an unsafe smart meter.
If the offence is proved, he could face a fine of up to $30,000.
Christine McIntosh, of Highett, suffered a shock in January last year as she watered her garden.
Premier Ted Baillieu again defended the smart meters yesterday after an ABC reporter’s Northcote house was damaged by fire early on Sunday morning.
Hamish Fitzsimmons, of Lateline, was away with his two children. His wife put out the fire, which started in the fuse box.
Fitzsimmons said a CitiPower inspector denied responsibility and the smart meter was taken away.
An MFB investigation found the meter did not cause the fire, but Fitzsimmons said more widespread inspections of installed meters were needed.
Quizzed on the ABC, Mr Baillieu said he was confident the meters were safe.
via Smart meter safety charge laid | Herald Sun.
Listen to this interview where the Premier of Victoria Ted Baillieu answers questions from Jon Faine on the safety of Smart Meters http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2012/01/31/3419277.htm?site=melbourne
Man charged over smart meter shock – 3AW
Posted by: 3AW Radio | 31 January, 2012 – 1:20 PM
An electrician has been charged over the installation of a smart meter which caused a woman to receive an electric shock.
The woman from Highett sufferred the shock when she tried to water her garden in March last year.
Energy Safe Victoria Director, Paul Fearon, says the man faces up to $30,000 in fines for the faulty work.
The matter is listed for mention in the Melbourne Magistrates Court in March.
Listen to the interview where Paul Fearon speaks to Neil Mitchell about the case via Man charged over smart meter shock.
By Alison Savage. PHOTO: A fire that damaged a Northcote home on the weekend is being blamed on the smart meter. (ABC: News)
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu has again defended the roll-out of smart meters, amid concerns they are causing a growing number of house fires.
The meters will be installed in every home and business in Victoria by the end of next year, after the State Government decided to back the program last year after a review.
The smart meters measure electricity consumption on an hourly basis to more accurately reflect the amount used.
So far this month, there have been three fires in fuse boxes with smart meters.
Last year the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) was asked to review those fires.
The review concluded they were not caused the the smart meters themselves, although they could have been caused by issues surrounding installation.
Hamish Fitzsimmons, an ABC reporter for Lateline, raised concerns about the meters after a fire at his Northcote home on the weekend.
Mr Fitzsimmons says the fire, which started behind the smart meter, caused extensive damage to at least one room of the house.
He says City Power, which installed the meter, has denied responsibility.
The Premier has offered to have the home independently inspected.
Mr Baillieu says many of the issues are linked to problems with installation, rather than the meters themselves.
“The smart meter itself has been thoroughly examined and they are, in my view, safe,” he told ABC local radio.
However Mr Baillieu says there are known service use connection issues in older houses affecting the addition of extra electricity loads and heat.
He denies it is similar to the Federal Government home insulation program where incorrectly installed insulation led to a number of fatal fires.
“There is a requirement for training and qualification for anybody installing a smart meter,” he said.
Meanwhile, a smart meter installer is facing a possible fine of $30,000 after being charged with using dodgy equipment.
Energy Save Victoria has charged an Ormond man with installing equipment that is unsafe and not testing it.
The charges relate to an installation at Highett in January last year, which is believed to have caused a fire in March.
via Premier defends ‘safe’ smart meters – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
This is a post from our sister site in the US. We feature along with about 5 other groups. It is great to know that we have international support. People we are not alone in this fight. We are in very good company. Below is the introduction to the post. Click on the link at the bottom of this page to read the rest.
From stopsmartmeters.org: There are websites and groups using “stop smart meters” as their rallying cry all over the US, in Canada and Australia, and now in Britain (see below for a round-up). There is a documentary film brewing with the same name. Is this a great big organized conspiracy, like the one that many feel brought us the meters in the first place?
In Australia: Stop Smart Meters Australia https://stopsmartmeters.com.au/ They say: “Join the Rebellion!” Can’t say better than that. Recent post: Crucial Data Missing from Smart-meter Customers’ Bills. Another: “I Wake Up with Headaches Every Morning.”
Read the rest of the post by clicking here Stop Smart Meters Goes National … and International! | Stop Smart Meters!.
I have my final notice of an installation of a smart meter. I have contacted the installers with my many concerns. I was told I cannot defer it and I have no choice. I contacted united energy and asked about my contents insurance and how I will stand if a fire results and I have allowed an unqualified person to do electrical work, as my policy states I should only alow an A grade electricians to do any work related to power. United energy have not got back to me as they said they would. I have also contacted primary industries with my concerns yet to hear back from them. I am very distraught about this whole thing the meter will be within 5 metres of my bed, and I live in a 100 yr old house with old wiring.
Stop Smart Meters Australia 